Many of the birds we enjoy feeding in our yards prefer eating on a flat surface. These include cardinals, grosbeaks, doves, blue jays, sparrows and others. The “platform” birdfeeder provides this environment very well. There are two types of platform birdfeeders, the “hopper” feeder and the “open tray” feeder. The hopper birdfeeder is enclosed on all four sides with wood and plexiglass, and has a hinged roof that opens above in which the seed is placed. The seed is dispensed at the bottom of the birdfeeder through openings in the plexiglass. While the seed is protected from the elements, it’s important that the birdfeeder provide a sufficient amount of ledge on both sides to allow for the larger ground feeding birds (i.e., cardinals, doves, etc.).

The open platform birdfeeder usually has more surface that can attract more birds than the hopper feeder; however, you must attend to the seed more frequently. Thus, there is a trade-off involved: (1) a hopper birdfeeder with less maintenance but fewer birds vs. (2) an open tray birdfeeder with more maintenance and more birds.

Since ground feeding birds find a variety of tree and weed seed on the ground, we recommend using a high quality seed blend with no Milo such as our “Deluxe”, “Special” or “Choice” blends.

Credits: Woodlink